Hand-held spray devices are commonplace in the beauty salon and barber shop professions. Water spray guns are also used for horticulture or gardening, and can also be applied for car washing or ground cleaning.
Particularly in the beauty salon and barber shop business, however, the need arises to grasp the device securely by hand while the device is covered with slippery liquids such as shampoos and conditioners while the spray is subjected to surge forces associated with varying water pressures.
Conventional spray guns include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,666,085; 4,651,929; and 4,621,770. Each device disclosed in these references, however, is relatively cumbersome to use because it includes a device for shutting off the flow of water. Thus, each device disclosed in such references is relatively bulky and awkward to manipulate, since it requires a secure grip, squeezing, and release action in order to operate for its intended purpose.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an economical improvement to conventional hand-held spray devices whereby an operator can control positioning and orientation of the device.
Accordingly, it is the primary aim of the invention to teach an improvement which allows the operator easily to pick up and put down the spray device using only a finger action without the need to grasp the entire device by all fingers of the operator's hand.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improvement whereby an operator can control the direction and flow of effluent water from the device when the device is covered by slippery liquids, such as shampoos and detergents.
Also, a related object is to provide an improvement which enables the positioning and orientation of the device to be controlled even while the device is subjected to surge forces associated with varying water pressures.
Moreover, a collateral objective is to teach an improvement which can be readily adapted by either a left- or a right-handed operator.
A correlated object is to offer an improvement which enables more control of the device to prevent unwanted spraying of the operator and others.
Finally, an allied object is to provide a device which can be used in a variety of places, such as beauty salons, restaurants, laundry rooms, kitchens, and the like.